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The name Weatherby alone is enough to pique the interest of most gun enthusiasts. The company’s attention to detail and renowned reputation for long-range performance in the hunting fields is unsurpassed.

But the company launched a shotgun lineup a few years ago and heads really turned when it rolled out a synthetic-stocked, pump-action shotgun in 12 gauge for self-defense. This year the company has extended its scattergun lineup with three 20-gauge offerings—one for bird hunting, while the new pair of TRs (Threat Response) are tailored for self-defense.

The PA-08 Synthetic in 20-gauge is available with either 26- or 28-inch chrome-lined barrels, comes with a black synthetic stock and to reduce glare afield the gun is finished in matte black. Lengthened forcing cones help reduce perceived recoil, making it an easy-to-use workhorse on opening day, regardless of the weather. It’s sure to offer the same kind of performance as its 12-gauge bigger brother.

The military contractor game has dried up some since the wars have slowed down so a lot of products that hoped for military trials are now trying to make it in the consumer world of guns and gun toys. Perhaps the most advanced at this year’s SHOT Show was TrackingPoint, a monstrous looking rifle and scope combination that is being marketed as fighter plane lock and launch technology for your deer rifle. Tag, Track, Fire.

The TrackingPoint system looks like a big huge rangefinder scope but it is actually an entire weapon system. You buy the rifle and electromechanical optics computer as a package, tuned to the ammo that comes with the gun. At first blush it felt more like the stuff of science fiction than that destined for the hunting camp, but TrackingPoint was the talk of SHOT Show 2013 for sure. The concept of this device is simple. Rifle accuracy and rifle ballistics have outpaced shooter ability for decades now, and most cartridges are generally not able to be shot at their effective distances because of potential shooter error. First shot hits at ranges of further than 600-800 yards are in the single digits for success percentages in human trials, even with ballistic computers, and if you think about it, there should be a technology that can make this better. From idea to finished working product, TrackingPoint is this technology.

I saw something incredible today when I met Cabot Guns CEO Robert A. Bianchin. His company may not be a household name among gun enthusiasts, yet, but this niche manufacturer builds some of the finest 1911s I have ever held.

These are not old-school 1911s you shoot every weekend, or toss into the back of your trunk irreverently. They’d handle it and be utterly reliable, but you just wouldn’t do that to these handguns.

These are, as Bianchin put it, a functioning piece of precision art. These 1911s are developed and made by engineers, to critical tolerances, using standards typically reserved for the aerospace industry or in a nuclear lab…I’m not kidding. They are also utterly reliable.

A lot of you guys were in disbelief that the new .17 Winchester rimfire from our Savage article early in this year’s SHOT Show coverage is all that it claims, so we got a little bit more information from Winchester. Seems that we have a whole new era of rimfire that will begin with the .17WSM. At 200 yards it barely moves at all in a 10mph wind, and they are marketing it for…coyote hunting. So stay tuned on this one kiddies. We hope to get a rifle from Savage and a box or two from Winchester Ammunition and get out coyote killing on the ranch soon. This is exciting stuff.

With ammunition prices through the roof and manufacturers unable to keep up with current demand, why would a company roll out an all new rimfire cartridge at the SHOT Show? In Winchester Ammunition’s case, probably because it has completed three years of development, and now is a great time to unveil low-cost fodder with performance that rivals some centerfire cartridges. Enter the world’s fastest rimfire, the .17 Winchester Super Magnum.

We first reported more than three years ago that deer rifles had vastly improved from what they were even five years before. We measured several inexpensive factory rifles at better than MOA, or Minute of Angle accuracy, and even those rifles have gotten even better since our original installment. Better stocks, better construction, and better overall workmanship have put legacy stalwart rifles like the Remington 700 at a disadvantage. You can get much cheaper guns with the same or better performance, out of the box. Remington entered the race for the least expensive great rifle last year with the 770, and this year they have added the 783. We hope to get both of these guns in for some actual hands on testing this year. It is amazing how much gun you can get for cheap these days, and this new Remington 783 looks very promising.

If you know innovative 1911s, then you know Para USA, formerly Para Ordnance. It has taken the 1911 places where it has never been before, including double-stack, high-capacity magazines and even gave it an innovative Light Double Action trigger.

A few years ago the Canadian-based company moved operations to Charlotte, North Carolina, and at the SHOT Show I saw five new pistols it is introducing. Here’s a look at what Para USA will be rolling out, and they range from a concealed-carry version to a hunter’s version.

Inside-the-waistband carry, or IWB, is considered one of the most discreet concealed-carry methods, making a T-shirt and shorts possible while carrying in places like my sunny Southern California. Even larger weapons can disappear on your body when quietly tucked into your waistband.

Versa Carry has been coming up with a lot of innovative ideas on ways to secure a handgun inside the waistband, and its latest is a small J-frame revolver setup.

This story came as a tip from our friend Carrie Lightfoot at The Well Armed Woman. There are a ton of “CCW purses ” out there, but most of them were made by men and don’t work at all. We almost covered a company last year that made a purse that worked like a raccoon trap. You could put a woman size hand into the gun pouch on the side, but once you grabbed that shiny gun, you couldn’t get it out. Carrie is working on a series of articles for us here at GunsAmerica, and she will be the first to tell you that carrying a gun in a purse isn’t for everyone. You have to make sure that bag stays with you at all times and is in your complete control, but in some modes of dress, bag carry is one of a short list of options, and possibly the most sensible one. Of all the bag companies that have courted Carrie, to sell them on TWAW, Gun Tote’n Mamas is the one she likes the most. They have a huge assortment of bags for just about every taste and mode of dress, and the gun parts work, which is the most important thing.

In the midst of the gun grabber legislative chaos, ATI Gunstocks had some pretty neat stuff for this year’s SHOT Show 2103. Their big new product is set to ship in April and they are taking pre-orders now. It is a complete replacement stock system for the Benelli M4 called the Raven. Like all ATI stocks, it is modular and you can buy one piece or the whole system. All ATI stocks are what is known as “992R” compliant as well. On foreign made high capacity weapons, you must have at least 5 parts that are made in the USA if you want to use a pistol grip, and they have to be one of a core list of parts on the gun. For the Benelli, there are 14 parts, and ATI makes the five that you need for compliance. The kit retails for $374 on their website (again, currently in pre-order). The extra part you see here in the pictures is that front rail system, which they call the “magazine tube shroud,” and that isn’t available yet on the website.